We take a break from our pressure profile tests to discuss the recent study published by an international group of scientists and Michael Cameron. He’s a barista and special projects manager at St. Ali Café, and the paper’s lead author.
What did they find? In layman’s terms, a lighter dose, a coarser grind, and faster, lower pressure shot is supposedly more efficient because you achieve a more complete and even extraction. As for if this works, we’ll be posting our own tests and findings on next week’s Monday Espresso. We’re gonna reserve that judgement until we have adequate data from our own tests.
But something also being discussed here is the savings, where they were able to save over 5000 USD by making this adjustment. Aside from the financial side, there’s also the aspect of this being a stewardship issue in regards to savings in terms of coffee as a resource. And that’s really asking the question: if there’s not enough coffee in the world, should we not be maximizing it?
But what’s most notable from what they’ve done in the one year, international study is that they’ve tried something different and new. And they are willing to publish it too. Sometimes you just have to test, taste, and understand for yourself. Another example also from this last week is James Hoffman and his high-humidity storage test. See it on his YouTube page. He wasn’t satisfied with simply accepting commonly held beliefs as ultimate truth and started testing for himself.
Ultimately, the most important lesson here is that the science is still not set. It’s important to try new things. To push the limits and willing to be the first one to be wrong until you are the first one who is right.
Keep experimenting.
